WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-05-19 Time: 00:00:03 Posted By: Jan
By Nosike Ogbuenyi
Lagos – “In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed – they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace and what did they produce ? The cuckoo clock.” A. A. Fisher (1890 – 1962, English statistician and geneticist.
There is ample reason for any discerning Nigerian to feel frustrated or concerned over the twists and turns in their country. The ills of the country appear endless – corruption, fraud, tribalism, religious fanaticism, armed robbery, kidnappings, militancy, poor leadership, indiscipline, electoral malpractices, un-patriotism, nonchalance, greed, insincerity, deceit These ills appear to be the defining traits of today’s Nigeria.
Rather than abate, the problems arising from the ills have grown over the years and have given birth to mass poverty, hunger, deprivation, diseases, malnutrition and general decay. The physical and psychological pangs of these multiple ills pinning down the country and her citizens are increasingly becoming too heavy for many Nigerians to endure any longer.
Amid the sundry ills of the country, most of her political leaders, whether elected or appointed appear too detached from the generality of the people. They grovel in sinful and corrupt acts that make the average citizen lose faith in the institutions of governance. These are some of the many reasons why the people’s confidence in the system is wearing thinner and thinner. Many leaders in government rather than conduct themselves as role models show bad examples. They have little regard for moral values.
Throwing their filthy lucre about, they beguile and defile the young females especially students. They fly to and fro and therefore treat as fairy tales the ubiquitous protestations about the death traps that go by the name of federal and state roads and highways in the country. Their children attend the best schools in Europe and America and so they do not give a damn about the deplorable state of public schools, colleges and universities.
When their wives, or children fall sick they fly them abroad for medical treatment. That accounts for why most of our leaders, including those charged with superintending the health sector do not care enough about the state of our hospitals. They only pay lip service to the needs of the sector. In a cyclical manner, funds appropriated by government for such vital sectors as health, education and infrastructure end up in private pockets. After sharing the loot the same item is included in the succeeding year’s budget. The circle goes on and on every year and that is how we found ourselves where we are today.
Why should I take the agony of rehashing our country’s woeful score sheet? Nigeria’s outing at the recent governorship rerun in Ekiti, better known as Ekiti debacle, flashed my mind to the problem with the country. Ekiti once more, jarred the nerves of many Nigerians who are increasingly running out of patience with their country, its inept leadership and indecorous political elite. For so long, Nigerians, like the unwearied vulture, have been legendary with their stunning patience and ability to suffer in silence.
The political elite and their collaborators have been exploiting thelong-suffering trait of the people for their selfish desire. Many unscrupulous leaders have perfected the art of negatively applying the people’s religious, ethnic and other diversities in order to divide and rule them. They exploit the seeming differences for their selfish ends such that the people find it very difficult if not impossible to aggregate and rise in unison to fight for their rights. Even when they manage to start an agitation with one accord, the selfish leaders always devised ways of breaking their ranks by employing the selfsame divisive techniques.
Many are tempted to conclude that Nigeria is doomed because of her multiple afflictions and what looks like self-inhibiting tendencies by our leaders and people. The recent Ekiti debacle typifies this malady gnawing away at the fabric of the country. The whole exercise smells of a charade, a macabre dance. The argument here is not about who won the election or who did not win or who should have won. I am not a crystal ball gazer to be able to pontificate on that.
However, what is manifest is that the aggregate conduct of virtually all the people who had one thing or the other to do with the rerun reveals the depth of the seismic pool in which we have found ourselves. From the inconsistent and corrupt electoral officials, the desperate contestants with their do-or-die mentality, the politicians’ uncanny instinct to undermine the process, the militarized party supporters to some overtly biased watchdogs, all are directly or indirectly culpable for the Ekiti malady.
What does this catalogue of foibles, failures and disappointment along the line in Nigeria’s nearly 50 years of existence as an independent nation add up to? It is true that after half a century as an autonomous entity, the country still largely lack many basic needs. Essentials like potable water, electricity, housing and good roads are still largely inexistent or in state of decay. But despite all that, I still have my unshakeable faith in Nigeria. I still believe that our country can reclaim its pride of place. The fact that we are yet to have it right democratically is not enough reason to write Nigeria off as a failed nation.
The country is not stagnating definitely. While the central government and many state administrations are still groping in the dark, some state governments like Lagos, Anambra, Jigawa and Akwa Ibom are making strides proportionately. It isn’t feeding time in the zoo for all the 36 states, although lootocracy still thrives in most states and federal ministries, agencies and departments. that is not enough to conclude that we are finished.
At least the private sector is thriving. That shows that Nigerians are better at managing private than public assets. It makes one see the reason behind the concessioning of part of the airports, the highways, and hospitals and so on. The system may not the best because it smacks of Darwinist recipe of survival of the fittest. In spite of that, having a new Nigeria plc is something we can make do with for now, after it is said that half bread is better than none. This is not to say that we should be complacent or applaud our deviant leaders. The agitation and fight for a better and more egalitarian Nigeria must continue even with greater intensity. But nothing should be done to kill the patient along with disease; otherwise the whole essence of striving to combat the ills would be defeated.
If Italy could rise from a state of anarchy and bring civilisation to the world through the renaisance in the medieval age, Nigeria can surmount her multiple problems today and be among the leaders of the world. Therefore, Nigeria is neither doomed nor finished as our detractors and even some compatriots claim. Our electoral and other woes can only be part of a passing phase in our history.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 17 May 2009
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200905180183.html?viewall=1